Anne Arundel County, Maryland v. 808 Bestgate Realty, LLC

Summary

The Maryland Court of Appeals held that Anne Arundel County Code § 17-11-207(c) required transportation impact fee credits for improvements to a county road that provided transportation capacity beyond the County’s adequate road facilities requirements. The court concluded that the County Board of Appeals erred by conditioning credits on the developer’s having been required to construct mitigation improvements. The court also reversed the intermediate appellate court’s remand for consideration of whether the improvements were site-related because the parties stipulated that issue was undisputed.

Holdings

1. Under the plain language of Anne Arundel County Code § 17-11-207(c), transportation impact fee credits shall be allowed for non-site-related transportation improvements that provide capacity over and above the adequate road facilities requirements. Eligibility does not depend on the developer first failing the adequate public facilities road test or undertaking a mitigation plan.
2. Anne Arundel County Code § 17-11-207(a) does not give the County discretion to deny transportation impact fee credits that are mandated by the more specific language of § 17-11-207(c). The agreement requirement concerns the process for establishing and redeeming credits and does not negate the entitlement to credits.
3. A remand to the Board to determine whether the improvements were site-related was unnecessary because both parties stipulated that the improvements were not site-related and the County conceded that no remand was needed.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the County Board of Appeals erred in denying transportation impact fee credits under Anne Arundel County Code § 17-11-207(c) when the improvements provided transportation capacity over and above the adequate road facilities requirements but were not required mitigation.
2. Whether a remand was warranted for the Board to determine whether the Bestgate Road improvements were site-related when both parties stipulated that they were not site-related and the County conceded that remand was unnecessary.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded